By Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 11, 2007; PW04
Manassas lost a chance at state funding for a major project last week when the Virginia General Assembly took action on budget bills.
The Senate Finance Committee rejected a $4.5 million budget amendment from state Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William) to fund improvements at the T. Nelson Elliot Dam at Lake Manassas. A similar measure by freshman Del. Jackson H. Miller (R-Manassas) was cut from the House's proposed amendments.
Colgan said he didn't expect funding for the dam to pass.
"The second year of the biennium of the budget is not the time to ask for it," he said.
Colgan said the funding would have a better chance next year.
The dam must be fortified by 2010 to withstand an extremely severe storm under newly tightened state regulations. The dam must be able to endure a torrential storm and not flood the inundation zone, which contains nearly 3,500 houses and businesses. Of those, 3,322 are in Prince William County.
Manassas has been working with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to set up a timeline for the project, which is in the engineering and design phase, said Dominic Brancaccio, assistant director of the city's water and sewer division.
"We can't readjust the plan. We are virtually mandated by the state to have plans complete and underway, at this point, in about 18 months, so we cannot slow down," City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes said. "The alternative is the state would require us to drain down our lake to a lower level, which has . . . water quality problems we don't want to go to."
Manassas has spent more than $375,000 on engineering studies for the estimated $9.4 million project. Once the engineering is 65 percent complete, a more accurate cost will be determined, Hughes said.
"At this point, if it continues onward like this, both the county customers and the city customers on our water system are going to end up paying for the debt" through higher water rates, said Michael C. Moon, Manassas's public works director.
"It doesn't effect water quality, and it doesn't increase capacity, and we have got to put these dollars into it. When you can increase reliability, water quality or capacity, you can stomach a higher cost on a project like this," Moon said.
The dam's 14 million gallon capacity is shared: 8 million is owned by Manassas, 5 million by the county and 1 million by Manassas Park.
The city still is hoping state money will be put into a fund to improve Virginia's dams, Hughes said.
"At this point, there is a matter of several hundred thousand dollars in the fund that could be used" by more than 50 dam owners throughout Virginia going through the same process as Manassas, said Gary Waugh, a Department of Conservation and Recreation spokesman.
Also, another Colgan amendment that was defeated would have given the regional Adult Detention Center $500,000 for additional resources for corrections officers trained in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement procedures.
Miller did not include the funding as a budget amendment. Instead, he is trying to pass legislation to fund ICE training on the state level, he said. His bill was incorporated into a measure by Del. Thomas Davis Rust (R-Fairfax) that would give expanded immigration authority to local and state officials. That bill is waiting for review by the Senate's Committee for Courts of Justice.
"I was hoping we could get that passed as one of my bills through the House and be able to fund it on the state level. I knew it was going to be a tough fight to do it there, much less to get the money at the local level," Miller said.
He said that if the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, Virginia State Police and state corrections officers would be able to participate in state-funded ICE training. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) opposes to the bill.
The budget conferees begin discussions Thursday. The 2007 General Assembly session is scheduled to end Feb. 24.
